LAWN AND GARDEN: It's time to sow seeds to grow plants in homemade greenhouse

With your own greenhouse in place and ready to go (see last week’s column), it's time to learn how and what to plant.

Growing plants on benches is the most convenient, and the platforms can be made simply by using 2x4s for the frame and legs, with chicken wire stapled with fence staples over the top.

Planting can be done in flats with trays, like the ones your annuals come in. One-, two-, or three-gallon containers can also be used. All seeds, however, should be started in a seed flat and then transplanted into trays. From the trays they can go into the nursery containers or baskets if you like.

A seed flat is just a flat with no individual trays placed in them. Fill the flat with good potting soil, and, with the palms of your hands, press another flat, right side up, on top of it. The grooves and ridges on the bottom of most flats will create furrows in which to sow seeds. The seed package will give you plenty of information, but the most critical at this stage is, whether the seed needs a thin covering of vermiculite or not.Vermiculite covers seeds better than potting soil for two reasons – it is lightweight and it does not hold water. A general rule for covering seeds is, the larger the seed, the thicker the covering. Tiny seeds like begonias need no covering at all. Vermiculite, flats, potting soil and all the other necessary items can usually be purchased at any garden center or possibly from an area grower.

Once the seed is sown, carefully water the flat by misting it with a water/fertilizer mix from a very clean window cleaner spray bottle or something similar. You don't need it soggy, nor do you want to just wet the top either. To keep the moisture in, cover the flat with plastic wrap and place it in the oven with its light on only. Seeds usually sprout in three to six days, so watch them closely. It will not hurt them to be out of the oven during meal preparation time. Once they have sprouted, place them in your greenhouse and leave the plastic wrap on them for one more week or when the little plants reach about a half inch tall.

After removing the plastic, all watering should be done sensibly (better a little dry than too wet) A water-soluble fertilizer, such as Peter's 20-20-20, should be used once every other watering, even after transplanting.

When seedlings are about an inch high or have their true leaves (those resembling the species, not the ones known as "seed leaves" which appear first), they have reached the proper stage for transplanting to the tray flats with potting soil.Make a hole in the cell of your transplant flat with your finger and carefully lift the seedling from the seed flat (it's best to take a clump of "like kind" seedlings and pull individual plants from this). Hold it with your fingers at the proper depth in the hole, and with your other fingers press the soil firmly around the roots so the roots are thoroughly covered and the plant is supported. From here, water sensibly.